POLICE have hit back at the diving expert assisting the search for missing Nicola Bulley – saying he does not know all the details.
Peter Faulding has told multiple news outlets he thinks the mum-of-two is not in the River Wyre, later saying she is.
The founder of private forensic searchers Specialist Group International (SGI) was drafted in on Monday to search the river bed with Sonar but has found no trace of the 45-year-old.
At a press conference in St Andrew's on Wyre village hall last night, superintendent Sally Riley stressed the diver was not party to all the details of their wider investigation.
The Lancashire Constabulary cop explained: "Our search has not found Nicola in the river and then a re-search in parts by SGI has found the same.
"That does not mean… that Nicola has not been in the river.
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“In the light of other inquiries being discounted from the investigation so far… clearly our main belief is that Nicola did fall into the river.
“Clearly Mr Faulding isn’t included within all the investigation detail any more than the members of the public are that I’m briefing through these sorts of press conferences.”
Mr Faulding – who is offering his services for free – has previously alleged "third party" involvement in Nicola's January 27 disappearance.
He has even claimed Nicola's phone – discovered on a bench still connected to a meeting – could be a "decoy".
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Speaking to The Sun on Tuesday afternoon, having earlier said his "gut feeling" was that Nicola is not in the river, he backtracked, saying he now believed she was.
After being slapped down last night, Mr Faulding, whose firm are based in Surrey, blasted superintendent Sally Riley's comments.
He said: "If there's any more facts that we don't know about – normally we work along the side of the police and if you haven't got the facts then you can't conduct a proper search.
"It is very difficult without that information. Normally, I'm privy to that information… it would be useful to know."
Superintendent Riley also warned "amateur detectives" – some of which have reportedly broken into homes to try and find evidence of the mum – they will be arrested if caught.
She added: "There are some properties along the riverside which are empty or derelict and whilst it may be well-intentioned that people think that that could be a line of inquiry, I would ask them to desist from doing that.
"In some cases it may be criminal if they are breaking in, causing damage or committing a burglary."
Monday's search for Nicola focused downstream on the tidal area of the River Wyre but Tuesday's search took place further upstream.
It included and went beyond the area where Nicola's belongings were found on a bench near Garstang Road, in St Michael's on Wyre.
It is a non-tidal area of the river.
Mr Faulding added: "If Nicola is in the river, she could have even fallen further up, we don't know."
SGI will continue their search with the £55,000 sonar equipment on Wednesday.
Other dive teams started to look further upriver towards Fleetwood and the Irish Sea on Tuesday.
It comes as cops focus search efforts on a track from the fields, where Nicola was last seen, to Garstang Road in St Michael's on Wyre.
Lancashire Constabulary said on Tuesday they believe this route may hold vital clues and have appealed to drivers and cyclists to come forward with any dashcam footage from the morning of January 27 when the mum vanished.
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In a statement, the force said they used data from the mum's fitbit fitness watch and mobile phone to scale up efforts on the path.
They added: "We have also spoken to numerous witnesses… and searched the derelict house on the other side of the river as well as any empty caravans in the vicinity."
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